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A landlord who admitted harassing a mum to leave her rented Bangor home has avoided prison.
Matthew Betty was given a six-month jail term suspended for two years. It is thought to be the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland, if not the UK.
The landmark case brought by Ards and North Down Borough Council heard that in one episode, men posing as paramilitaries showed up on the doorstep of the woman’s Ballyquinton Gardens home to threaten her.
However, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said while there was no evidence 41-year-old Betty directly contacted, still less engaged the men, “nevertheless by his actions he facilitated the visit and the fears it engendered”.
Landlord gets suspended sentence for harassing tenant 24 February, 2021 14:41
A landlord who admitted harassing a woman to leave her rented Bangor home has been given a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
The case, brought by Ards and North Down Borough Council, heard that in at one stage men posing as paramilitaries showed up on the doorstep of the woman s Ballyquinton Gardens home to threaten her.
However, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said while there was no evidence 41-year-old Matthew Betty directly contacted or engaged the men, nevertheless by his actions he facilitated the visit and the fears it engendered .
The Downpatrick Crown Court judge said other aggravating factors included the length of time over which his harassment continued and his deliberately getting the water supply to the property turned off.